Patient support apparatuses with reconfigurable communication

ABSTRACT

A patient support apparatus includes a frame, support surface, cable interface, switches, a location detector, and a controller. The switches are electrically coupled to the interface and the controller selects a configuration for the plurality of switches based on a current location of the patient support apparatus within a healthcare facility. Alternatively or additionally, a user interface may display a plurality of identifiers that each identifies a predefined configuration for the switches wherein the controller configures the switches according to an identifier selected by the user. A transceiver on board the patient support apparatus may communicate with different fixed transmitters and the controller may implement different switch configurations based on messages from the different fixed transmitters.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/945,437 filed Apr. 4, 2018 by inventors Krishna Bhimavarapu et al.and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH RECONFIGURABLECOMMUNICATION, which in turn claims priority to U.S. provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 62/481,949 filed Apr. 5, 2017, by inventors KrishnaBhimavarapu et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITHRECONFIGURABLE COMMUNICATION, the complete disclosures of both of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to patient support apparatuses, such asbeds, cots, stretchers, operating tables, recliners, wheelchairs, or thelike. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to patientsupport apparatuses that are adapted to communicate with an existingnurse call system and/or one or more room controls.

Existing hospital beds often include an exit detection system thatdetects when the patient leaves the bed and notifies a nurse call systemthat the patient has left the bed. Existing hospital beds also ofteninclude a nurse call button and speaker that allow the patient tocommunicate with a remote nurse using the nurse call system. Still otherfeatures and/or information regarding the bed may also be communicatedto and/or through the nurse call system, or to a room control systemthat controls various aspects of the room in which the patient supportapparatus is positioned (e.g. volume, channel, and power of atelevision, room temperature, room lights, etc.)

In order for the bed to communicate this information to the nurse callsystem or the room controls, the bed must be configured in a manner thatcorresponds to the particular nurse call system and room controls thathave been installed in a particular healthcare facility, or a particularroom of a healthcare facility. This is because different manufacturersof nurse call systems and room control systems handle communications indifferent manners. Further, communication between the bed and thesesystems typically is carried out via a cable running from the bed to aport in a headwall, and the configuration of the headwall port may varyfrom room to room and/or from healthcare facility to healthcarefacility.

SUMMARY

According to various embodiments, the present disclosure provides one ormore improved features for expediting and/or reducing the laborassociated with configuring a patient support apparatus to enable it tocommunicate with a particular nurse call system, headwall, and/or roomcontrol system. In some aspects, the present disclosure includes apatient support apparatus that is automatically configured according toa predefined configuration setting based on the location of the patientsupport apparatus. In other aspects, the patient support apparatus maycommunicate with an off-board device in order to determine its properconfiguration. In still other aspects, a user interface may be providedthat enables a user to quickly and easily configure the patient supportapparatus to communicate with a desired nurse call system and/orheadwall.

According to a first embodiment of the present disclosure, a patientsupport apparatus is provided that includes a frame, a support surfacefor supporting a patient thereon, an interface, a plurality of switches,a location detector, and a controller. The interface is adapted tocouple to a cable having a plurality of electrical conductors. Theplurality of switches are electrically coupled to the interface. Thecontroller selects a configuration for the plurality of switches basedon a current location of the patient support apparatus within ahealthcare facility.

According to other aspects, the location detector includes a wirelesstransceiver adapted to communicate with a short-range beacon positionedwithin the healthcare facility at a fixed location off-board the patientsupport apparatus.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus also includes an exitdetection system adapted to detect when a patient exits from the supportsurface. In such embodiments, the controller changes a state of at leastone of the switches in response to detecting a patient exiting from thesupport surface.

A nurse call control is included in some embodiments. The nurse callcontrol is adapted to be activated by the patient and to promptcommunication with a remotely positioned nurse when so activated. Thecontroller changes a state of at least one of the switches in responseto the nurse call control being activated.

According to other aspects, the patient support apparatus includes amemory having a plurality of configuration settings stored therein; aplurality of location identifiers stored therein; and an indexindicating which configuration settings correspond to which locationidentifiers. A transceiver may also be included that communicates withan off-board device. The controller may be adapted to perform one ormore of the following: (1) receive additional location identifiers fromthe off-board device via the transceiver and to update the indexindicating which of the configuration settings correspond to theadditional location identifiers; (2) receive additional configurationsettings from the off-board device via the transceiver and update theindex indicating which of the location identifiers correspond to theadditional configuration settings; and/or (3) receive an updated indexindicating which of the configuration settings correspond to which ofthe location identifiers.

In some embodiments, the patient support apparatus further comprises amemory having a plurality of predefined configuration settings storedtherein wherein each predefined configuration setting corresponds to aparticular commercially available headwall interface.

The interface is adapted to receive a multi-pin connector in someembodiments. The multi-pin connector electrically communicates with theplurality of switches such that a nurse call system off-board thepatient support apparatus is able to determine a status of at least someof the switches via signals sent through the multi-pin connector.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a patientsupport apparatus is provided that includes a frame, a support surfacefor supporting a patient, an interface adapted to couple to a cablehaving a multiple electrical conductors, a plurality of switches, a userinterface with a display, and a controller. The switches areelectrically coupled to the interface. The controller is adapted todisplay on the display a plurality of identifiers. Each identifieridentifies a predefined configuration setting for the plurality ofswitches. The controller allows a user to select one of the identifiersand to configure the plurality of switches according to the selected oneof the identifiers.

In some embodiments, each of the identifiers corresponds to a particularlocation within a healthcare facility. The identifiers may indicate aname of a particular location within the healthcare facility.

According to other aspects, a transceiver is included that communicateswith an off-board device. The controller is adapted to receiveadditional identifiers via the transceiver. The additional identifierscorrespond to additional predefined configuration settings for theplurality of switches. The controller displays on the display theadditional identifiers and allows a user to select one of the additionalidentifiers. The transceiver is a wireless transceiver in someembodiments. The transceiver may also or additionally communicate with aserver on a healthcare facility local area network. The server may, inturn, be in communication with a geographically remote server and beadapted to receive from the geographically remote server the additionalidentifiers and additional predefined configuration settings.

In some embodiments, one or more of the identifiers correspond to aparticular commercially available nurse call system.

The user interface may be adapted to allow a user to modify one or moreindividual switch settings of the predefined configuration settings.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a patientsupport apparatus is provided that includes a frame, a support surfacefor a patient, a plurality of switches, an interface, a transceiver, anda controller. The interface is adapted to receive a multi-pin connectorthat electrically communicates with the plurality of switches such thata nurse call system off-board the patient support apparatus is able todetermine a status of at least some of the switches via signals sentthrough the multi-pin connector. The transceiver is adapted tocommunicate with a plurality of fixed transmitters. The controllerconfigures the plurality of switches according to a first setting whenthe transceiver receives a first message from a first one of the fixedtransmitters and configures the plurality of switches according to asecond setting when the transceiver receives a second message from asecond one of the fixed transmitters. The first and second settings aredifferent.

According to other aspects, the patient support apparatus furthercomprises an exit detection system adapted to detect when a patientexits from the support surface. The controller opens a first one of theswitches when configured according to the first setting in response todetecting the patient exiting from the support surface, and thecontroller closes the first one of the switches when configuredaccording to the second setting in response to detecting the patientexiting from the support surface.

The first message may identify a first location and the second messagemay identify a second location. The second location is different fromthe first location.

In some embodiments, the first fixed transmitter includes a uniquepatient support apparatus identifier in the first message thatcorresponds to the patient support apparatus and the second fixedtransmitter also includes the unique patient support apparatusidentifier in the second message.

In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, the patient supportapparatus may be one of a bed, a stretcher, a chair, a recliner, awheelchair, an operating table, or a cot.

Before the various embodiments disclosed herein are explained in detail,it is to be understood that the claims are not to be limited to thedetails of operation or to the details of construction and thearrangement of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The embodiments described herein arecapable of being practiced or being carried out in alternative ways notexpressly disclosed herein. Also, it is to be understood that thephraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of“including” and “comprising” and variations thereof is meant toencompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well asadditional items and equivalents thereof. Further, enumeration may beused in the description of various embodiments. Unless otherwiseexpressly stated, the use of enumeration should not be construed aslimiting the claims to any specific order or number of components. Norshould the use of enumeration be construed as excluding from the scopeof the claims any additional steps or components that might be combinedwith or into the enumerated steps or components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a patient support apparatus according toa first embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a litter and a pair of lift headerassemblies with force sensors of the patient support apparatus of FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a base of the patient support apparatusof FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of the patient support apparatus of FIG. 1 showncommunicatively coupled to the IT infrastructure of a healthcarefacility in a first manner;

FIG. 5 is a first illustrative embodiment of a control system of thepatient support apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a first illustrative screen shot of configuration optionsdisplayable on a display of the patient support apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a second illustrative screen shot of configuration optionsdisplayable on the display of the patient support apparatus;

FIG. 8 is a third illustrative screen shot of configuration optionsdisplayable on the display of the patient support apparatus;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of the patient support apparatus of FIG. 1 showncommunicatively coupled to the IT infrastructure of a healthcarefacility in a second manner;

FIG. 10 is a diagram of the patient support apparatus of FIG. 1 showncommunicatively coupled to the IT infrastructure of a healthcarefacility in a third manner;

FIG. 11 is a diagram of the patient support apparatus of FIG. 1 showncommunicatively coupled to the IT infrastructure of a healthcarefacility in a fourth manner;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a prior art 37-pin male cableconnector;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a prior art 37-pin female cableconnector; and

FIG. 14 is a chart of a prior art example of the functions of the pinsof a 37-pin cable often used in existing healthcare facilities.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

An illustrative patient support apparatus 20 according to a firstembodiment of the present disclosure is shown in FIG. 1. Although theparticular form of patient support apparatus 20 illustrated in FIG. 1 isa bed adapted for use in a hospital or other medical setting, it will beunderstood that patient support apparatus 20 could, in differentembodiments, be a cot, a stretcher, a recliner, a wheelchair, anoperating table, or any other structure capable of supporting a patientin a healthcare environment.

In general, patient support apparatus 20 includes a base 22 having aplurality of wheels 24, a pair of lifts 26 supported on the base 22, alitter frame 28 supported on the lifts 26, and a support deck 30supported on the litter frame 28. Patient support apparatus 20 furtherincludes a footboard 34 and a plurality of siderails 36. Siderails 36are all shown in a raised position in FIG. 1 but are each individuallymovable to a lower position in which ingress into, and egress out of,patient support apparatus 20 is not obstructed by the lowered siderails36.

Lifts 26 are adapted to raise and lower litter frame 28 with respect tobase 22. Lifts 26 may be hydraulic actuators, pneumatic actuators,electric actuators, or any other suitable device for raising andlowering litter frame 28 with respect to base 22. In the illustratedembodiment, lifts 26 are operable independently so that the tilting oflitter frame 28 with respect to base 22 can also be adjusted. That is,litter frame 28 includes a head end 37 and a foot end 39, each of whoseheight can be independently adjusted by the nearest lift 26. Patientsupport apparatus 20 is designed so that when an occupant lies thereon,his or her head will be positioned adjacent head end 37 and his or herfeet will be positioned adjacent foot end 39.

Litter frame 28 provides a structure for supporting support deck 30,footboard 34, and siderails 36. Support deck 30 provides a supportsurface for a mattress (not shown in FIG. 1), such as, but not limitedto, an air, fluid, or gel mattress. Alternatively, another type of softcushion may be supported on support deck 30 so that a person maycomfortably lie and/or sit thereon. The top surface of the mattress orother cushion forms a support surface for the occupant. Support deck 30is made of a plurality of sections, some of which are pivotable aboutgenerally horizontal pivot axes. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1,support deck 30 includes a head section 42, a seat section 44, a thighsection 46, and a foot section 48. Head section 42, which is alsosometimes referred to as a Fowler section, is pivotable about agenerally horizontal pivot axis between a generally horizontalorientation (not shown in FIG. 1) and a plurality of raised positions(one of which is shown in FIG. 1). Thigh section 46 and foot section 48may also be pivotable about generally horizontal pivot axes.

Patient support apparatus 20 further includes a user interface 32 thatenables a user of patient support apparatus 20, such as a caregiverassociated with the patient who occupies patient support apparatus 20,to control one or more aspects of patient support apparatus 20. Suchaspects include, but are not limited to, changing a height of supportdeck 30, raising or lowering head section 42, activating anddeactivating a brake for wheels 24, arming and disarming an exitdetection system 56 (FIG. 5) and, as will be explained in greater detailbelow, configuring patient support apparatus 20 to properly communicatewith the particular IT infrastructure installed in the healthcarefacility in which patient support apparatus 20 is positioned.

User interface 32 is implemented in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 as acontrol panel having a lid (flipped down in FIG. 1) underneath which ispositioned a plurality of controls. The controls may be implemented asbuttons, dials, switches, or other devices. User interface 32 may alsoinclude a display 38 (FIG. 5) for displaying information regardingpatient support apparatus 20. The display is a touchscreen in someembodiments. Although FIG. 1 illustrates user interface 32 mounted tofootboard 34, it will be understood that user interface 32 can bepositioned elsewhere.

FIG. 2 illustrates in greater detail litter frame 28 separated fromlifts 26 and base 22. Litter frame 28 is also shown in FIG. 2 withsupport deck 30 removed. Litter frame 28 is supported by two lift headerassemblies 50. A first one of the lift header assemblies 50 is coupledto a top 52 (FIG. 3) of a first one of the lifts 26, and a second one ofthe lift header assemblies 50 is coupled to the top 52 of the second oneof the lifts 26. Each lift header assembly 50 includes a pair of forcesensors 54, which will be described herein as being load cells, but itwill be understood that force sensors 54 may be other types of forcesensors besides load cells. The illustrated embodiment of patientsupport apparatus 20 includes a total of four load cells 54, although itwill be understood by those skilled in the art that different numbers ofload cells may be used in accordance with the principles of the presentdisclosure. Load cells 54 are configured to support litter frame 28.More specifically, load cells 54 are configured such that they providecomplete and exclusive mechanical support for litter frame 28 and all ofthe components that are supported on litter frame 28 (e.g. support deck30, footboard 34, siderails 36, etc.). Because of this construction,load cells 54 are adapted to detect the weight of not only thosecomponents of patient support apparatus 20 that are supported by litterframe 28 (including litter frame 28 itself), but also any objects orpersons who are wholly or partially being supported by support deck 30.

The mechanical construction of patient support apparatus 20, as shown inFIGS. 1-3, is the same as, or nearly the same as, the mechanicalconstruction of the Model 3002 S3 bed manufactured and sold by StrykerCorporation of Kalamazoo, Mich. This mechanical construction isdescribed in greater detail in the Stryker Maintenance Manual for theMedSurg Bed, Model 3002 S3, published in 2010 by Stryker Corporation ofKalamazoo, Mich., the complete disclosure of which is incorporatedherein by reference. It will be understood by those skilled in the artthat patient support apparatus 20 can be designed with other types ofmechanical constructions, such as, but not limited to, those describedin commonly assigned, U.S. Pat. No. 7,690,059 issued to Lemire et al.,and entitled HOSPITAL BED; and/or commonly assigned U.S. Pat.publication No. 2007/0163045 filed by Becker et al. and entitled PATIENTHANDLING DEVICE INCLUDING LOCAL STATUS INDICATION, ONE-TOUCH FOWLERANGLE ADJUSTMENT, AND POWER-ON ALARM CONFIGURATION, the completedisclosures of both of which are also hereby incorporated herein byreference. The mechanical construction of patient support apparatus 20may also take on forms different from what is disclosed in theaforementioned references.

Load cells 54 are part of an exit detection system 56 (FIG. 5) that willbe discussed in greater detail below. In general, exit detection system56, when armed via user interface 32, determines when an occupant ofpatient support apparatus 20 has left, or is likely to leave, patientsupport apparatus 20, and issues an alert and/or notification toappropriate personnel so that proper steps can be taken in response tothe occupant's departure (or imminent departure) in a timely fashion. Inat least one embodiment, exit detection system 56 monitors the center ofgravity of the patient using the system and method disclosed in commonlyassigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,432 issued to Travis and entitled PATIENTEXIT DETECTION MECHANISM FOR HOSPITAL BED, the complete disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference. In other embodiments, exitdetection system 56 determines if the occupant is about to exit, oralready has exited, from patient support apparatus 20 by determining adistribution of the weights detected by each load cell 54 and comparingthe detected weight distribution to one or more thresholds. In suchembodiments, the center of gravity may or may not be explicitlycalculated.

Other manners for functioning as an exit detection system are alsopossible. These include, but are not limited to, any of the mannersdisclosed in the following commonly assigned patent applications: U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/873,734 filed Oct. 2, 2015, by inventorsMarko Kostic et al. and entitled PERSON SUPPORT APPARATUS WITH MOTIONMONITORING; U.S. patent publication 2016/0022218 filed Mar. 13, 2014, byinventors Michael Hayes et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSWITH PATIENT INFORMATION SENSORS; and U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/266,575 filed Sep. 15, 2016, by inventors Anuj Sidhu et al. andentitled PERSON SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH EXIT DETECTION SYSTEMS, thecomplete disclosures of all of which are incorporated herein byreference. Further, in some embodiments, load cells 54 may be part ofboth exit detection system 56 and a scale system that measures theweight of a patient supported on support deck 30. The outputs from theload cells 54 are processed, in some embodiments, in any of the mannersdisclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No.62/428,834 filed Dec. 1, 2016, by inventors Marko Kostic et al. andentitled PERSON SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH LOAD CELLS, the completedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIG. 4 illustrates patient support apparatus 20 coupled to the ITinfrastructure 40 of a healthcare facility 58 according to one commonconfiguration. As shown therein, healthcare facility 58 includes aheadwall 60, a nurse call system 62, a plurality of rooms 64 (64 a, 64 b. . . 64 x), one or more nurses' stations 66, a local area network 68,one or more wireless access points 70, a bed server 72, and one or morenetwork appliances 74 that couple LAN 68 to the internet 76, therebyenabling servers and other applications on LAN 68 to communicate withcomputers outside of healthcare facility 58, such as, but not limitedto, a geographically remote server 78. IT infrastructure 40 alsoincludes one or more room controls 86. It will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that the particular components of the ITinfrastructure 40 of healthcare facility 58 shown in FIG. 4 may varywidely. For example, patient support apparatus 20 may be used inhealthcare facilities having no wireless access points 70, no connectionto the internet 76 (e.g. no network appliances 74), and/or no bed server72. Still further, local area network 68 may include other and/oradditional servers installed thereon, and nurse call system 62, in somehealthcare facilities 58, may not be coupled to the local area network68. Patient support apparatus 20 is capable of being installed inhealthcare facilities 58 having still other variations of the ITinfrastructure 40 illustrated in FIG. 4. It will therefore be understoodthat the particular IT infrastructure 40 shown in FIG. 4 is merelyillustrative, and that patient support apparatus 20 is constructed to becommunicatively coupled to IT infrastructures arranged differently fromthat of FIG. 4, some of which are discussed in greater detail below.

Patient support apparatus 20 is coupled to a data port 80 on headwall 60by way of a cable 82. Data port 80, in turn, is coupled to one or morecables or other conductors 84 that electrically couple the data port 80to nurse call system 62 and to one or more room controls 86. Conductors84 are typically located behind headwall 60 and not visible. In somehealthcare facilities, conductors 84 may first couple to a roominterface board that includes one or more conductors 84 for electricallycoupling the room interface board to room controls 86 and/or nurse callsystem 62. Still other communicative arrangements for coupling data port80 to nurse call system 62 and/or one or more room controls 86 arepossible.

Room controls 86 are conventional room controls that control one or moreaspects of the particular room 64 in which the corresponding data port80 is located. The particular aspects controlled by room controls 86 mayvary from healthcare facility to healthcare facility depending upon theparticular manufacturer of the room controls 86 and/or the manner inwhich the room controls have been installed, but generally include suchitems as controls for an in-room television (e.g. volume, channel, andpower), controls for heating or air conditioning, controls for one ormore room lights, and/or controls for opening and closing windowcoverings. Still other room controls may be included. Further, in someembodiments, patient support apparatus 20 may be communicatively coupledto IT infrastructure that includes no room controls 86, and/or thatincludes room controls 86 in only some rooms, and/or that includesdifferent types of room controls 86 in different rooms.

Cable 82 enables patient support apparatus 20 to communicate with nursecall system 62 and/or room controls 86. A patient supported on patientsupport apparatus 20 who activates a nurse call control on patientsupport apparatus 20 causes a signal to be conveyed via cable 82 to thenurse call system 62, which forwards the signal to a one or moreremotely located nurses (e.g. nurses at one of the nurses' stations 66).If the patient activates one or more room controls, a signal is conveyedvia cable 82 to the room controls 86 that changes one or more aspects ofthe room in which he or she is located (e.g. change the volume of atelevision). In order for patient support apparatus 20 to properlycommunicate with room controls 86 and nurse call system 62, patientsupport apparatus 20 needs to be configured in a manner that matches theparticular room controls 86 and nurse call system 62 that are installedin the particular healthcare facility 58 in which patient supportapparatus 20 is located. In other words, different healthcare facilities58 may utilize different brands and/or models of nurse call systems 62,as well as different brands and/or models of room control equipment.Still further, different healthcare facilities may utilize differenttypes of data ports 80 for communicating with nurse call system 62 androom controls 86. In addition, in some healthcare facilities, differentrooms of the healthcare facility may have different types of data ports80, different room controls 86, and/or be connected to different typesof nurse call systems 62.

Patient support apparatus 20 is designed to be more easily configuredsuch that it can communicate with the different data ports 80, roomcontrols 86, and/or nurse call systems 62 that are present in differenthealthcare facilities and/or in different locations of a particularhealthcare facility. In the past, hospital beds and other patientsupport apparatuses are typically configured for communication with aparticular hospital's IT infrastructure at the factory where the bedsare made. The configuration often involves choosing the right states foreach one of a set of dipswitches that are integrated into the bed. Thedipswitches are often not placed at an easily accessible location, arenot easily changed if they are inadvertently configured incorrectly, andare not intuitive to set. As will be explained in greater detail below,patient support apparatus 20 is designed to overcome these and/or otherdisadvantages associated with the configuration of prior art patientsupport apparatuses.

Cable 82 includes a first end having a first connector 88 and a secondend having a second connector 90 (FIG. 4). First connector 88 is adaptedto be plugged into a cable interface 92 positioned on patient supportapparatus 20. Second connector 90 is adapted to be plugged into dataport 80. In many healthcare facilities 58, data port 80 is configured asa 37-pin receptacle. In such facilities, cable 82 includes first andsecond connectors 88 and 90 having 37 pins (one of which may be a maleconnector and the other of which may be a female connector). One exampleof a male 37-pin connector 94 that may be used as first or secondconnector 88 or 90 is shown in FIG. 12. One example of a female 37-pinconnector 96 that may be used as first or second connector 88 or 90 isshown in FIG. 13. Other types of 37-pin connectors may also be used,depending upon the configuration of data port 80. Still further, in somehealthcare environments, data port 80 includes fewer pins and/or has anarrangement of pins that is shaped differently from what is shown inFIGS. 12 and 13. Patient support apparatus 20 is adapted to communicatewith all of these different types of data ports 80 via an appropriatelyselected cable (e.g. one with the proper connectors 88, 90 on its ends).In combination with the proper cable 82, such communication is enabledby configuring patient support apparatus 20 in one or more of themanners described in more detail below.

Configuring patient support apparatus 20 for proper communication withnurse call system 62 and/or room controls 86 involves supplying patientsupport apparatus 20 with the knowledge of what data is communicated oneach of the pins of data port 80 (and interface 92), what electricalstate each of the pins is in when data is not being communicated (e.g.normally open or normally closed), and/or what pins, if any, are notelectrically coupled together. One or more of these factors may changewhen patient support apparatus 20 is used with a different nurse callsystem 62, a different data port 80, and/or a different set of roomcontrols 86.

Patient support apparatus 20 includes a control system 98 (FIG. 5) thatis adapted to be easily configured for communication with differentnurse call systems 62, room controls 86, and/or data ports 80. It willbe understood that some of the components of control system 98 may bevaried from what it shown in FIG. 5, and that, in some modifiedembodiments, one or more of the components may be omitted entirely.Control system 98 includes a controller 100, one or more sensors 102, atransceiver 104 adapted to wirelessly communicate with one or moreoff-board devices 106, a nurse call control 108, a room control 110,user interface 32, exit detection system 56, a memory 112, andconfiguration circuitry 114. Configuration circuitry 114 is electricallycoupled to cable interface 92 and controls how interface 92 interactswith cable 82 when first connector 88 of cable 82 is coupled to cableinterface 92.

It will be understood that cable interface 92 is shown in FIG. 5 ashaving only eight pins. This is done merely for purposes of compactillustration. Cable interface 92 typically includes 37 pins in order tomatch the number of pins on first connector 88 of cable 82. In suchsituations, configuration circuitry 114 is expanded from what is shownin FIG. 5 in order to accommodate the additional pins of cable interface92. This expansion includes a larger memory 120, additional switches118, and other changes that would be understood by one skilled in theart in light of the following description. In some other embodiments,patient support apparatus 20 may be further modified to include multiplecables interfaces 92 that are adapted to communicate with differentstyle connectors 88. In such embodiments, additional electricalconnections are simply added between the configuration circuitry 114 andthe additional interfaces.

Each pin of interface 92 is adapted to convey certain information frompatient support apparatus 20 to nurse call system 62 and/or roomcontrols 86. FIG. 13 illustrates one illustrative pin assignment for aconventional 37-pin connector. As can be seen in FIG. 13, each pinconveys different information. For example, pin 3 is used to conveyinformation to room controls 86 indicating whether the occupant ofpatient support apparatus 20 has pressed a control on patient supportapparatus 20 to turn on or turn off a light in the particular room inwhich patient support apparatus 20 is located. In many instances, pin 3is electrically tied to pin 27 and patient support apparatus 20 commandsroom controls 86 to turn on or turn off the room light based on whetherthe connection between pins 3 and 27 is open or closed. For some roomcontrols 86, an open circuit between pins 3 and 27 indicates that theroom lights should be turned off and a closed circuit between pins 3 and27 indicates that the room lights should be turned on. For other roomcontrols, the opposite may be true. That is, for some other roomcontrols 86, an open circuit between pins 3 and 27 indicates the roomlight should be turned on and a closed circuit between pins 3 and 27indicates the room lights should be turned off. The different ways inwhich an open or closed switch or circuit between two or more pins areinterpreted by the room controls 86 requires patient support apparatus20 to be configured to properly communicate with room controls 86 forthe particular room patient support apparatus 20 is located in.

In addition to room controls, the various pins of cable interface 92also communicate information to nurse call system 62. This informationis likewise often communicated by opening or closing the electricalconnection between two pins. For example, when a patient presses a nursecall control, such as nurse call control 108 (which may be a button,switch, or the like), the electrical connection between pins 19 and 28is typically changed. These pins indicate to the nurse call system 62that a nurse call request has been initiated by the occupant of patientsupport apparatus 20. Depending upon the particular nurse call system62, it responds by illuminating one or more lights (e.g. a light in thehallway of the healthcare facility and/or a light at one or more of thenurses' stations 66). For some nurse call systems, the connectionbetween pins 19 and 28 should be open when no light is desired andclosed when a light is desired, while in other nurse call systems 62 theconnection between pins 19 and 28 should be open when a light is desiredand closed when no light is desired. Accordingly, patient supportapparatus 20 should be configured properly based upon the particularnurse call system 62 with which it is going to communicate.

It will be appreciated that the particular pin numbers illustrated inFIG. 5 are merely an arbitrary selection of pin numbers that have beenselected for illustrating the principles of the present disclosure.These selected pin numbers may correspond to the pin numbers illustratedin FIG. 13, or they may correspond to different functions in differentembodiments. When implemented to correspond to FIG. 13, switch 118 acommunicates with pins 19 and 28 to provide information to nurse callsystem 62 about changing the state of one or more lights associated witha nurse call event. Similarly, when implemented to correspond to FIG.13, switch 118 b communicates with pins 16 and 29 to provide informationto nurse call system 62 about when a nurse or other caregiver hasanswered a nurse call request; switch 118 c communicates with pins 3 and27 to provide information to nurse call system 62 about when a patienthas initiated a nurse call; and switch 118 d communicates with pins 30and 31 to provide information to nurse call system 62 about when thepatient has exited from patient support apparatus 20. As noted, controlsystem 98 of FIG. 5 may be modified to include additional switches andcommunication with different pins for conveying different information,as well as altering which pins are coupled to the various switches 118.

In order to configure the normally open or normally closed state of theswitches 118 coupled to the pins of cable interface 92, control system98 utilizes one or more configuration settings 116 stored in memory 112(FIG. 5). When patient support apparatus 20 first configures cableinterface 92, or when changes to the current configuration of cableinterface 92 are desired, controller 100 reads one of the configurationsettings 116 stored in memory 112. These settings instruct controller100 how to configure the plurality of switches 118 that are inelectrical communication with cable interface 92. Controller 100configures switches 118 by storing the particular configuration settingread from memory 112 in a non-volatile memory (NVM) 120, which may be anEEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) or othertype of non-volatile memory. Controller 100 stores the desiredconfiguration setting in NVM 120 by communicating the settinginformation to NVM 120 using an I-squared-C data bus 122. Data bus 122communicates with I-squared-C interface logic 124 which is adapted toset the memory elements 126 of NVM 120 in the manners indicating in theconfiguration setting 116 read from memory 112. Memory elements 126, inturn, are in communication with switches 118 by way of a multiplexor128. Controller 100 uses the multiplexor 128 to set the neutral state ofeach of the switches 118. In some embodiments, each memory element 126identifies the neutral state of a corresponding switch 118. For example,in the embodiment of control system 98 shown in FIG. 5, memory element126 a stores the desired neutral state of switch 118 a, memory element126 b stores the desired neutral state of switch 118 b, and memoryelement 126 d stores the desired neutral state of switch 118 d.

The term “neutral state” used herein refers to the state of a switch 118when no condition has been detected, or no desired action has beenrequested by the patient, caregiver, or patient support apparatus 20itself. Thus, for example, for those pins that communicate an exitdetection alert (as detected by exit detection system 56), the neutralstate of the corresponding switch 118 is the state of the switch (openor closed) when no patient exit from patient support apparatus 20 hasbeen detected. As another example, for those pins that communicate achange to a room television (channel, volume, power, etc.) or a roomlight, the neutral state of the corresponding switches 118 refers to thestate of those switches 118 when no change is being requested by a user(e.g. the patient has not pressed, or otherwise activated, one of roomcontrols 110).

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, each switch 118 has beenimplemented as a MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field EffectTransistor) with its source coupled to one of the pins of cableinterface 92 and its drain connected to another of the pins of cableinterface 92. Its gate is electrically connected to multiplexor 128 andis either held at a low voltage or a high voltage, depending upon theconfiguration stored in the corresponding memory element 126 of NVM 120.In other words, the configuration information loaded into NVM 120 bycontroller 100 dictates whether a high voltage or a low voltage isoutput on configuration lines 130 of multiplexor 128. Configurationlines 130 each feed into an exclusive OR (XOR) gate 132. The output fromeach XOR gate 132 is fed to the gate of each switch 118 (after passingthrough an inverter).

Each XOR gate 132 also has an input connected to a control line 134whose voltage is determined by controller 100. The voltage on each ofcontrol lines 134 is changed by controller 100 in response to acondition that has changed (e.g. a patient exit is detected) or arequest being activated (e.g. a nurse call button being pressed). In theabsence of any change or request, controller 100 sets control lines 134to a low voltage. In such a state, the output from each XOR gate 132 isdetermined by the input that is fed into the XOR gate from configurationlines 130. Configuration lines 130 thus determine the neutral state ofthe corresponding switch 118. More precisely, configuration lines 130determine the inverse of the neutral state of the corresponding switch118 due to the presence of inverters 136.

For example, if line 130 a is a logic high and control line 134 a is alogic low, then the output from XOR gate 132 a will be a logic high andthe signal applied to the gate of switch 118 a will be a logic low (dueto inverter 136 a). On the other hand, if line 130 a is a logic low andcontrol line 134 a is a logic low, then the output from XOR gate 132will be a logic low and the signal applied to the gate of switch 118 awill be a logic high due to inverter 136 a. Still further, regardless ofwhether line 130 a is high or low, the output from XOR gate 132 willchange whenever the state of control line 134 a changes. That is, ifconfiguration line 130 a is high and controller 100 changes control line134 a, the output from XOR gate 132 will change, and if theconfiguration line 130 a is low and controller 100 changes the controlline 134 a, the output from XOR gate 132 will also change. Controller100 therefore uses control lines 134 to change the state of a switch 118in response to a change in a condition being detected or a request beingactivated by a user of patient support apparatus 20.

Control system 98 allows a user to easily change the configuration ofswitches 118 so that the connections between pairs of pins in theirneutral state matches the neutral interpretation made by nurse callsystem 62 and/or room control system 86. This is accomplished bychanging the contents of NVM 120. Thus, for example, if memory element126 a is set to cause an output on configuration line 130 that creates ahigh impedance between the source and drain of switch 118 a (aneffectively open state) when switch 118 a indicates a neutral state forthe parameter reported via pins 19 and 28, and if it is desired tochange this neutral configuration of switch 118 a, this is accomplishedby loading a new configuration setting into NVM that changes memoryelement 126 a to its opposite (e.g. from high to low, or low to high).This change to memory element 126 a causes the signal on configurationline 130 to create a low impedance between the source and drain ofswitch 118 a (effectively a closed state) for the neutral state. When acondition is detected, or a request is received, by controller 100 thatis to be conveyed to nurse call system 62 or room controls 86 via pins19 and 28, controller 100 changes the state of control line 134 a,thereby changing the state of the switch 118 a. It can therefore be seenthat NVM 120 determines the neutral states of all of the switches 118via the logical state of configuration lines 130 while controller 100changes those neutral states via control lines 134 to the opposite statewhenever a condition is detected, or a request is made, that is to becommunicated to a corresponding nurse call system 62 or room control 86.

Controller 100 is further programmed to know which control line 134corresponds to which switch 118 (and its associated pin) so thatcontroller 100 knows which control line 134 to change whenever acondition is detected or a request is made. Thus, for example, if apatient exits patient support apparatus 20, exit detection system 56sends an exit detection signal to controller 100. In response controller100 switches the output on whichever control line 134 is coupled to theswitch 118 and pin that indicates when an exit alert has been detected.With reference to FIG. 13, the control line 134 that is changed in thisexample is the control line 134 that is coupled to the switch 118 d thatis in communication with pins 30 and 31 (priority NO/NC and prioritycommon). When a nurse call system 62 and/or room control system 86 isused that is configured differently from that illustrated in FIG. 13, adifferent control line 134 may be used.

As evident from FIG. 5, control system 98 is adapted to store multipleconfiguration settings 116 in memory 112. Each configuration settingspecifies the neutral state of each of the switches 118. Eachconfiguration setting 116 may also include additional information, suchas pin assignments (e.g. which pin is controlled by which control line134 and configured by configuration line 130) and/or whether one or morepins should be electrically coupled together or not. In the case of thelatter, control system 98 may be modified to include additional switchesin front of switches 118 that selectively couple together differentpins. For example, if it were desired to couple pin 3 to pin 31, ratherthan to pin 27 as shown in FIG. 5, configuration circuitry 114 ismodified to include switches between configuration lines 130 c and 130 dand between control lines 134 c and 134 d. The added switches arecontrolled by additional control lines whose signals are dictated byadditional memory elements stored in NVM 120.

By storing a configuration setting 116 in NVM 120, it is not necessaryfor controller 100 to retrieve a configuration setting 116 from memory112 every time controller 100 is powered or rebooted. This enables thestate of patient support apparatus 20 to be properly communicated tocable interface 92 without having to wait for controller 100 to read aconfiguration setting 116 from memory 112 and install the configurationsetting in NVM 120. Further, by storing multiple configuration settings116 in memory 112, controller 100 is able to easily change theconfiguration settings of patient support apparatus 20 with minimaleffort on the part of a user. This enables patient support apparatus 20to not only be easily configured for a particular healthcare facility,or a particular location of a particular healthcare facility, but alsoto have its configurations changed when the patient support apparatus 20is moved to a different location having a different type of nurse callsystem 62 and/or different room controls 86.

The different ways in which the configuration of cable interface 92 canbe easily changed will now be described in more detail with respect toFIGS. 6-8. FIGS. 6-8 illustrate different representative screen shots138 a-c that are displayable by control system 98 on display 38 of userinterface 32. The style, layout, content, and design of these particularscreen shots 138 a-c may change depending upon the particular embodimentof patient support apparatus 20, the particular healthcare facility inwhich patient support apparatus 20 is located, and/or the differentmakes and/or models of nurse call systems 62 and/or room controls 86. Itwill therefore be understood that screen shots 138 a-c are providedmerely as illustrative examples for explaining various principles of thepresent disclosure.

Screen shot 138 a of FIG. 6 illustrates a plurality of predefinedconfiguration settings that are each identified by a unique identifier140. In this particular example, identifiers 140 a-d identify differentlocations within a particular healthcare facility 58. Identifier 140 aidentifies an intensive care unit; identifier 140 b identifies amaternity ward; identifier 140 c identifies a particular structuralsection of the healthcare facility; and identifier 140 d identifies adifferent structural section of healthcare facility 58. It will beunderstood that the number of location identifiers 140 shown in FIG. 6may vary, as well as the content of the identifiers. In general, screenshot 138 a displays those locations of a healthcare facility 58 wherethe nurse call system 62 and/or the room controls 86 are configureddifferently from other sections of the healthcare facility 58. When apatient support apparatus 20 is moved to one of these locations, it iseasily configured by having a user select the identifier 140 thatcorresponds to the particular location of patient support apparatus 20.

For example, if patient support apparatus 20 is moved to the maternityward of a healthcare facility 58, in order to configure patient supportapparatus 20 properly for communicating with the nurse call system 62and room controls 86 installed in that location of the healthcarefacility, a user only needs to select identifier 140 b (maternity). Insome embodiments, display 38 is a touch screen display and the selectionof identifier 140 b is accomplished by touching the area of display 38where identifier 140 b is located. In other embodiments display 38 maybe implemented differently and a different manner of selecting maternityidentifier 140 b may be used.

In response to a user selecting a particular identifier 140 from screenshot 138 a, user interface 32 sends a signal to controller 100indicating which identifier 140 was selected by the user. Controller 100consults an index 142 stored in memory 112 that identifies whichidentifier 140 corresponds to which configuration setting 116. In someembodiments, such as shown in FIG. 5, memory 112 also stores the variousidentifiers 140. However, in other embodiments, memory 112 does notstore the identifiers 140. In such embodiments, controller 100 uses theidentifier received from user interface 32 to identify, via index 142,which configuration setting 116 should be loaded into NVM 120.Controller 100 then loads the corresponding configuration setting 116into NVM 120.

It will be understood that, although FIG. 5 illustrates only twodifferent configuration settings 116 a and 116 b, as well as only twodifferent identifiers 140 a and 140 b, these numbers may vary fromembodiment to embodiment and from healthcare facility to healthcarefacility. In the example shown in FIG. 6, there would likely be fourconfiguration settings 116 a-d, one for each of the identifiers 142 a-d.However, this too may vary. For example, if the maternity ward and thefirst floor of the east wing of the healthcare facility 58 happened tohave the same nurse call system 62 and room controls 86, then memory 112could be modified to only store one configuration setting 116 thatcorresponded to both locations. In such a situation, controller 100modifies index 142 such that both identifiers 140 b (maternity) and 140c (1^(st) floor, east wing) are linked to the same configuration setting(e.g. 116 b). In this particular case, controller 100 might thereforeonly store three configuration settings. Still other variations arepossible.

Control system 98 therefore facilitates the movement of patient supportapparatus 20 to different locations within a healthcare facility 58 thatcommunicate with differently configured nurse call systems 62, headwalls60, and/or room controls 86. This is accomplished by selecting theidentifier 140 from screen shot 138 that matches the current location ofpatient support apparatus 20. Once selected, controller 100automatically reconfigures patient support apparatus 20 according to theselected location, thereby enabling patient support apparatus 20 toproperly communicate with the nurse call system 62, headwall 60, androom controls 86 in that selected location.

Screen shot 138 a also includes a custom icon 144. Custom icon 144 isselected by a user whenever the user wishes to change index 142 or oneor more of the configuration settings 116 associated with the locationsidentified by identifiers 140 a-d, and/or if the user wishes to add newlocations or delete existing locations. For example, if a user with theproper administrative access (control system 98 may be designed so thatcustom icon 144 is only accessible to certain authorized individuals)wishes to change one or more of the switch 118 settings associated withconfiguration setting 116 a, he may select custom 144 and proceed to ascreen shot like that shown in FIG. 8, which enables the user to changeindividual switch states within a particular configuration setting 116,as will be explained in greater detail below. Selecting custom icon 144also allows a user to add new identifiers 140 for different locationswithin healthcare facility 58 and/or to delete one or more of theexisting locations 140 a-d. Whatever changes are made in response to theuser selecting custom icon 144, controller 100 makes correspondingadjustments to index 142 and/or configuration settings 116 in memory112.

In addition to, or as an alternative to, loading an individualconfiguration setting 116 using the custom icon 144, patient supportapparatus 20 may be adapted to receive configuration settings 116 indifferent manners. For example, in some embodiments, control system 98is adapted to receive configuration settings 116, an index 142, and/oridentifiers 140 from an off-board device 106 (FIG. 5). In someembodiments, the off-board device 106 corresponds to bed server 72 (FIG.4), while in other embodiments the off-board device corresponds to adifferent device. When receiving configuration information (settings116, index 142, and/or identifiers 140) from bed server 72, controller100 communicates with bed server 72 via wireless communication with oneor more access points 70 of local area network 68. In such situations,transceiver 104 may be a WiFi transceiver, or it may be another type oftransceiver adapted to communicate wirelessly with local area network 68and bed server 72. In still other embodiments, transceiver 104 may be awired transceiver, such as an Ethernet transceiver, that is adapted tocommunicate with a wired Ethernet connection to local area network 68.Still other manners of communicating with bed server 72 are possible.

When patient support apparatuses 20 are configured based uponconfiguration information sent from bed server 72, it may not benecessary to individually configure each patient support apparatus 20.For example, some healthcare facilities 58 include only a single type ofnurse call system 62, headwall 60, and room controls 86. In suchembodiments, bed server 72 is able to send the correspondingconfiguration setting 116 to all patient support apparatuses 20 withinstructions to implement that particular configuration setting 116. Insituations where healthcare facility 58 includes two or more types ofnurse call systems 62 (or variations in headwalls 60 or room controls86), bed server 72 may be configured to send both of the configurationsettings 116 that are used in that particular healthcare facility alongwith an instruction as to which of those multiple configuration settings116 each particular patient support apparatus 20 is supposed to loadinto its NVM 120. The instruction of which configuration setting 116 toimplement is based upon the current location of each patient supportapparatus 20, and this location may be determined in multiple differentmanners. Examples of some such suitable manners are disclosed incommonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/559,458 filed Dec.3, 2014, by inventors Michael Hayes et al. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORTAPPARATUS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, the complete disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference. Other suitable manners for determiningthe locations of each patient support apparatus 20 are disclosed incommonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 8,461,982 issued Jun. 11, 2013, to DavidBecker et al, the complete disclosure of which is also incorporatedherein by reference. Still other manners for determining the location ofeach patient support apparatus 20 may be used.

Bed server 72 is in communication with one or more user interfaces (e.g.computer terminals, keyboards, displays, etc.) that enable anadministrator of the healthcare facility, or an authorizedrepresentative, to send the appropriate configuration settings 116 toeach of the patient support apparatuses 20. This enables all of thepatient support apparatuses 20 to be configured from one centrallocation by inputting information into bed server 72 a single time. Thisgreatly simplifies prior art methods of configuring patient supportapparatuses 20 wherein a technician was often required to physicallychange dipswitch settings on each individual patient support apparatus.

In addition to sending configuration settings 116 to patient supportapparatus 20 and an instruction as to which one of the configurationsettings 116 to implement, bed server 72 may be further modified to sendadditional instructions to patient support apparatuses 20 to switchtheir configuration settings 116, as necessary, as they move throughoutthe healthcare facility 58. In other words, in some embodiments, bedserver 72 is programmed to automatically cause patient supportapparatuses 20 to switch from one configuration setting 116 to anotherconfiguration setting 116 based upon changes in the location of thepatient support apparatus 20. When bed server 72 is programmed in thismanner, it is no longer necessary for a user to bring up screen shot 138a on user interface 32 and manually select one of the locationidentifiers 140 a-d when patient support apparatus 20 is moved from oneof those locations to another. Instead, the location of the patientsupport apparatus 20 is repetitively monitored by bed server 72 (usingany of the methods mentioned above) and if patient support apparatus 20moves from a first location to a second location that has a differentlyconfigured nurse call system 62, headwall 60, and/or room controls 86,bed server 72 automatically sends a message to that patient supportapparatus instructing it to load the configuration settings 116 into NVM120 that corresponds to the second location. Manual changes of a patientsupport apparatuses' headwall configuration are therefore automaticallymade from a centralized location (bed server 72) rather than manuallymade at each individual patient support apparatus 20 via user interface32.

Screen shot 138 b of FIG. 7 illustrates a plurality of predefinedconfiguration settings that are each identified by a unique identifier140 e-k. In this particular example, identifiers 140 e-k identifydifferent manufacturers and models of nurse call systems 62, data ports80, and/or room controls 86. In order to configure patient supportapparatus 20 for proper communication with the nurse call system 62,data port 80, and/or room controls 86 of a particular room, the usermanipulates user interface 32 to bring up screen shot 138 b and selectstherefrom the appropriate manufacturer and/or model of the nurse callsystem 62, data port 80, and/or room controls 86. It will be understoodthat the number of manufacturer identifiers 140 e-k shown in FIG. 7 mayof course vary, as well as the content of the identifiers. In someembodiments, screen shot 138 b displays (or provides controls fordisplaying) all of the known manufacturers of nurse call systems 62,data ports 80, and/or room controls 86 that require differentconfiguration settings for switches 118. A user then selects from thisglobal list the manufacturer and model that matches what is installed ina particular healthcare facility, or a particular location of ahealthcare facility. In other embodiments, only a local list of thosemanufacturers and models that are installed in a particular healthcarefacility are displayed on screen shot 138 b. In still other embodiments,other sets of manufacturers and models may be displayed.

After a user selects the particular manufacturer and/or model identifier140 e-k (FIG. 7), the user's selection is forwarded to controller 100.Controller 100 then uses an index, such as index 142, to determine whichconfiguration setting 116 corresponds to the particular manufacturerand/or model selected by the user. After selecting the correspondingconfiguration setting 116, controller 100 reads the configurationsetting from memory 112 and loads its corresponding data intonon-volatile memory 120. Once loaded therein, configuration circuitry114 ensures that switches 118 are properly configured in theirappropriate neutral states. Thereafter, if controller 100 detects analert or other event that requires communication via cable interface 92,controller 100 changes the state of the appropriate switch(es) bysending signal(s) along one or more of the corresponding control lines134.

Control system 98 may include multiple indexes 142. In some embodiments,control system 98 includes a first index 142 that matches togetherconfiguration settings 116 with location identifiers 140, and a secondindex 142 that matches together configuration settings 116 withmanufacturer/model identifiers 140. In still other embodiments, index142 may also or alternatively match locations with manufacturers andmodels, or vice versa. In such embodiments, controller 100 may firstdetermine (or be told by another device or instructed by a user) thecurrent location of patient support apparatus 20 within healthcarefacility 58. Using this location data, controller 100 consults a firstindex 142 to determine that that particular location has a particularnurse call system 62. After determining the particular nurse callsystem, controller 100 may then consult a second index that matches thatparticular nurse call system 62 to a particular configuration setting116.

As with screen shot 138 a, screen shot 138 b includes custom icon 144.When selected, custom icon 144 allows a user to manually change any oneor more of the predefined configuration settings 116. Such changesinclude changes to the neutral switch settings of individual switches118 for one or more configuration settings 116. In addition, custom icon144 allows a user to create additional configuration settings 166, aswell as the identifiers associated with those configuration settings116. The created identifiers may be manufacturer and model identifiers,or they may be different types of identifiers. Custom icon 144 furtherallows a user to enter the data that defines any of the predefinedconfiguration settings 116, although such data may more easily beuploaded to control system 98 during manufacture of patient supportapparatus 20. Alternatively, or additionally, the configuration settings116 associated with the manufacturer/model identifiers (e.g. identifiers140 e-k of FIG. 7) may be uploaded to individual patient supportapparatuses 20 via communication with bed server 72, and/or with aremote server 78, the latter of which may be controlled by the sameentity that manufacturers patient support apparatuses 20. In suchsituations, configuration settings 116 may be first downloaded fromremote server 78 to bed server 72, and from bed server 72 to theindividual patient support apparatuses 20 within healthcare facility 58.Other means for loading the configuration settings 116 are alsopossible.

FIG. 8 illustrates a screen shot 138 c that, unlike screen shots 138 aand 138 b of FIGS. 6 and 7, respectively, does not show a plurality ofidentifiers 140 corresponding to a plurality of predefined configurationsettings 116. Instead, FIG. 8 illustrates a plurality of individualswitch identifiers 146 a-d. Switch identifiers 146 a-d correspond to thestate of individual switches 118. Thus, screen shot 138 c allows a userto select the states of individual switches 118, rather than apredefined configuration setting 116 that defines the states for theentire set of switches 118. Screen shot 138 c is therefore one exampleof the type of screen shot that may be displayed in response to a userselecting custom icon 144 from screen shots 138 a and 138 b.

Although screen shot 138 c only illustrates four switch identifiers 146a-d, it will be understood that the actual number of switch identifiers146 displayable on display 38 of user interface 32 will generally be atleast as great as the total number of switches 118 that are present onpatient support apparatus 20. This allows a user to select the neutralstate for each of the switches 118 present on patient support apparatus20. In the example shown in FIG. 8, the user selects the individualstate of a particular switch using a corresponding radio button 148,which is positioned next to the switch identifier 146. For example, ifthe user wants the nurse call switch 118 to be in a normally open state,the user slides radio button 148 a to the right (to the NO state). Ifthe user wants the nurse call switch 118 to be in a normally closedstate, the user slides the radio button 148 a to the position shown inFIG. 8. Similarly, if the user wants the speaker low pin electricallycoupled to the potentiometer low pin, the user slides radio button 148 cto the left to the YES position. If this electrical connection is notdesired, the user keeps radio button 148 c in the NO position, as shownin FIG. 8. Choices for the rest of the switch identifiers 146 are madein a similar way, including additional switch identifiers 146 that arenot shown on screen shot 138 c.

In addition to the information shown in FIG. 8, controller 100 may alsobe programmed to display a location identifier 140 and/or amanufacturer/model identifier 140 on screen shot 138 c. That is, in someembodiments, controller 100 initially displays all of the switchidentifiers 146 with their corresponding radio buttons 148 positioned inwhichever state is the normal or default state for a particular locationand/or a particular manufacturer/model. Thereafter, a user can changeany one or more of those switch settings by sliding the correspondingradio button 148 to a different state. In this manner, screen shot 138 ccan be used to customize any of the predefined configuration settings116 discussed above.

The content of screen shot 138 c therefore may change, depending uponwhich particular set of predefined configuration settings 116 a user hasselected. For example, if a user selects maternity identifier 140 b fromscreen shot 138 a of FIG. 6 and then selects the custom icon 144,controller 100 displays a screen shot 138 c that illustrates switchidentifiers 146 with their associated radio buttons 148 in the positionsused in the maternity ward. The user can then make changes to any ofthese individual switch settings, if desired. On the other hand, if theuser selects east wing, second floor identifier 140 d from screen shot138 a, controller 100 displays a screen shot 138 c that illustratesswitch identifier 146 and their associated radio buttons 148 in thepositions used for the second floor of the east wing. The user can thenmake changes to any of these individual switch settings. Screen shot 138c therefore can be used to display the switch settings currently in useby patient support apparatus 20 and/or the switch settings associatedwith any of the other identifiers 140 (location and manufacturer/model).

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that control system 98may be implemented with many different variations, including, but notlimited to, one or more of the following. Instead of using MOSFETs forone or more of switches 118, different types of transistors may be used,or relays may be used, or still other types of switches may be used.Instead of communicating configuration information from controller 100to NVM 120 over an I-Squared-C bus 122, other types of communicationbusses may be used (e.g. Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, a LocalInterconnect Network (LIN) bus, Firewire, RS-232, RS-485, a UniversalSerial Bus (USB), Ethernet, and/or a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI)bus), as well as non-bus communication. NVM 120 may also be implementedin other manners besides EEPROM. Still other variations are possible.

Controller 100 may take on a variety of different forms. In theillustrated embodiment, controller 100 is implemented as one or moreconventional microcontrollers. However, controller 100 may be modifiedto use a variety of other types of circuits—either alone or incombination with one or more microcontrollers—such as, but not limitedto, any one or more microprocessors, field programmable gate arrays,systems on a chip, volatile or nonvolatile memory, discrete circuitry,and/or other hardware, software, or firmware that is capable of carryingout the functions described herein, as would be known to one of ordinaryskill in the art. Such components can be physically configured in anysuitable manner, such as by mounting them to one or more circuit boards,or arranging them in other manners, whether combined into a single unitor distributed across multiple units. The instructions followed by 100when carrying out the functions described herein, as well as the datanecessary for carrying out these functions, are stored in memory 112and/or another memory accessible to controller 100.

It will also be understood that the data communicated from patientsupport apparatus 20 to nurse call system 62 and/or room controls 86 viacable interface 92 may include data beyond what has been explicitlydiscussed so far. Such data includes all of the data displayed in FIG.13, as well any additional data that is desirably communicated via cableinterface 92. Some examples of additional data that may be communicatedvia switches 118 and cable interface 92 include: whether one or moresiderails 36 are in a down position (or an up position); whether theposition of any of the siderails 36 changes from an initial state;whether a brake on patient support apparatus 20 is set; whether exitdetection system 56 is armed; whether support deck 30 is at its lowestheight; whether head section 42 has pivoted to less than a thresholdangle (e.g. 30 degrees); and whether patient support apparatus 20 hasbeen set or not to monitor a particular set of conditions. These variousitems of data are detected by one or more corresponding sensors 102 thatcommunicate with controller 100 (FIG. 5).

FIG. 9 illustrates patient support apparatus 20 coupled to analternative set of IT infrastructure 240 of a healthcare facility 258according to another type of configuration. IT infrastructure 240 ofFIG. 9 differs from IT infrastructure 40 of FIG. 4 in that ITinfrastructure 240 includes one or more location beacons 150 that aremounted at fixed locations within rooms 64, such as, but not limited to,the headwalls 60 of rooms 64. Typically, a beacon 250 is mountedadjacent each data port 80 so that anytime a patient support apparatus20 is connected by a cable to a data port 80, it is in communicationwith an adjacent beacon 250.

Beacons 250 are adapted to wirelessly communicate with patient supportapparatuses 20 over a relatively short distance, such as approximately3-10 feet. Using such short range communication (which may involveinfrared communication, Bluetooth, Bluetooth LE, near fieldcommunication, combinations of these technologies, and/or other types ofshort range communication), a patient support apparatus 20 is only ableto communicate with a nearby beacon 250 when the patient supportapparatus 20 is within a short distance of the beacon 250. The abilityof a particular patient support apparatus 20 to communicate with aparticular beacon 250 therefore provides a proxy indication that thatparticular patient support apparatus 20 is located adjacent thatparticular beacon 250. By assigning each beacon 250 a unique identifierand by mapping the location of each beacon 250 within a particularhealthcare facility 58, it is possible to determine the location of aparticular patient support apparatus 20 based upon its communicationwith a nearby beacon 250.

Patient support apparatus 20 is configured, in at least one embodiment,to receive a unique identifier from beacon 250 when the patient supportapparatus 20 is positioned nearby. This identifier is received, in someembodiments, via transceiver 104. In other embodiments, the controlsystem 98 of patient support apparatus 20 is modified to include aseparate transceiver for communicating with beacon 250. Still further,in some embodiments, beacon 250 initially communicates with patientsupport apparatus 20 using a short range receiver, and thereaftercommunicates with patient support apparatus 20 using a longer rangetransceiver. In order to ensure that the long range communications arenot misinterpreted by another patient support apparatus 20 within thevicinity, beacon 250 may receive a unique identifier from the patientsupport apparatus 20 via the short range communications and use theidentifier in the long range communications. Any patient supportapparatuses 20 that receive the long range messages, but which don'thave the same patient support apparatus identifier, ignore thosemessages. Still other communication protocols may be used.

Regardless of the manner in which patient support apparatus 20 receivesthe unique identifier from beacon 250, controller 100 uses the uniqueidentifier to select which configuration setting 116 to install into NVM120. This selection may be carried out in different manners.

In one embodiment, memory 112 includes an index 142 that matches each ofthe unique beacon identifiers to specific configuration settings 116. Inanother embodiment, memory 112 includes a first index that matches thebeacon identifier to a location identifier, and controller 100 uses asecond index 142 to match the location identifier to a specificconfiguration setting 116. In still another embodiment, controller 100sends the beacon identifier to bed server 72 and bed server 72determines the location of the patient support apparatus 20 via a tablethat maps beacon identifiers to specific locations within healthcarefacility 58. Bed server 72 then sends the corresponding location of thebeacon 250 back to patient support apparatus 20 and controller 100 usesthe location to select a particular configuration setting 116 (based ona location-to-configuration index 142 maintained in memory 112). Instill another variation, controller 100 sends the beacon identifier tobed server 72 and bed server 72 responds by sending the appropriateconfiguration setting 116 back to patient support apparatus 20.

In still another embodiment, beacon 250 transmits directly to patientsupport apparatus 20 the appropriate configuration setting 116 that isto be used by patient support apparatus 20 for that particular locationof healthcare facility 58. In this embodiment, if patient supportapparatus 20 is later moved to a different location of healthcarefacility 58 that requires different configuration settings forcommunicating with nurse call system 62, room controls 86, or data port80, patient support apparatus 20 receives the required configurationsettings from the beacon 250 positioned adjacent the particular dataport 80 at that different location. In this embodiment, beacons 250 mayinclude their own transceivers (e.g. WiFi) that communicate with one ormore wireless access points 70 and receive from bed server 72 theappropriate configuration settings 116 that are to be used at theircorresponding locations within healthcare facility 58. Alternatively,beacons 250 may receive their corresponding configuration setting 116 inother manners.

FIG. 10 illustrates patient support apparatus 20 coupled to analternative set of IT infrastructure 440 of a healthcare facility 458according to another type of configuration. IT infrastructure 440 ofFIG. 10 differs from IT infrastructure 240 of FIG. 9 in that ITinfrastructure 440 includes one or more adapter beacons 450 that aremounted at fixed locations within rooms 64, such as, but not limited to,the headwalls 60 of rooms 64. As with location beacons 250, adapterbeacons 450 are typically mounted adjacent each adjacent each data port80 so that anytime a patient support apparatus 20 is connected by acable to a data port 80, it is in communication with an adjacent beacon450.

Adapter beacons 450 are similar to location beacons 250 in that adapterbeacons 450 provide location information to patient support apparatuses20. This location information may be provided wirelessly, as withbeacons 250, or it may be provided via cable 82, which is coupledbetween patient support apparatus 20 and the associated adapter beacon450. Also, adapter beacons 450, like location beacons 250, arestationary and remain in fixed locations that are mapped duringinstallation such that the location of each adapter beacon 450 is known.

Adapter beacons 450 differ from location beacons 250 in that adapterbeacons 450 receive cables 82 from patient support apparatuses 20 andadjust, if necessary, the manner in which data received from the patientsupport apparatuses 20 is communicated to data ports 80. In making theseadjustments, adapter beacons 450 are adapted to be differentlyconfigured so that they are able to communicate with different types ofnurse call systems 62, room controls 86 and/or data ports 80. By usingadapter beacons 450, it is not necessary for patient support apparatus20 to be reconfigured when it moves to a different location withinhealthcare facility 458 that uses a different type of nurse call system62, room control 86, and/or data port 80. Instead, the adapter beacons450 are configured in a manner that matches the particular nurse callsystem 62, room controls 86, and data port 80 installed for the room inwhich they are located. This ensures proper communication between thepatient support apparatus 20 and the IT infrastructure 440 withoutrequiring the patient support apparatuses 20 to be reconfigured whenmoved to different locations.

In some embodiments, adapter beacons 450 include a memory, configurationcircuitry, switches, a controller, and a cable interface similar to thememory 120, configuration circuitry 114, switches 118, controller 100,and cable interface 92 of control system 98 of patient support apparatus20. In these embodiments, the controller of the beacon 450 installs inthe memory 120 the proper switch settings so that controller 100 is ableto properly communicate via its cable interface with the nurse callsystem 62, room controls 86, and data port 80. That is, controller 100receives data from patient support apparatus 20 via cable 82 and thenchanges the state of one or more of its own switches based on the datareceived from patient support apparatus 20. These switches are inelectrical communication with a second cable 482 (FIG. 10) that extendsbetween adapter beacons 450 and data port 80. Data port 80 thereforereceives data that is properly configured for successful communicationwith its connected nurse call system 62 and room controls 86.

Adapter beacons 450 therefore offload from patient support apparatuses20 the necessity of the patient support apparatuses 20 being properlyconfigured for communication with different IT infrastructures. Instead,all of the patient support apparatuses 20 can be commonly configured tocommunicate with adapter beacons 450. Adapter beacons 450 may thenhandle any conversion of the data communicated from (or to) patientsupport apparatus 20 that is necessary for successful communication withthe particular nurse call system 62 and room controls 86 installed in aparticular room of healthcare facility 58.

Patient support apparatuses 20 that are adapted to communicate withadapter beacons 450 may therefore omit the configuration circuitry 114shown in FIG. 5, although such circuitry may be included in patientsupport apparatuses 20 in order for the patient support apparatus 20 tocommunicate in locations where an adapter beacon 450 may not be present.In some embodiments, the configuration settings of a particular adapterbeacon 450 are both displayable and changeable using user interface 32of patient support apparatus 20. In such embodiments, any or all of thefeatures discussed above with respect to predefined configurationsettings 116 and/or changing those configuration settings in conjunctionwith FIGS. 6-8 may be still present on patient support apparatus 20, butmodified so that the displayed and/or changed configuration settings 116refer to those of adapter beacon 450 instead of patient supportapparatus 20 itself. In this manner, patient support apparatus 20functions as a tool for changing and viewing the configuration settingsof adapter beacons 450.

In an alternative embodiment of adapter beacons 450, each adapter beacon450 is able to communicate individually with one or more servers onlocal area network 68. In such embodiments, each adapter beacon 450 mayinclude a WiFi transceiver, or other type of transceiver, that is incommunication with local area network 68. The configuration settings fora particular adapter beacon are then communicated directly to theadapter beacon 450 via its connection to local area network 68, ratherthan using a patient support apparatus 20 as an intermediary. Thecommunicated configuration settings for the adapter beacons 450 may comefrom bed server 72, another server on local area network 68, or fromremote server 78.

FIG. 11 illustrates patient support apparatus 20 coupled to yet anotheralternative set of IT infrastructure 640 of a healthcare facility 658according to another type of configuration. IT infrastructure 640 ofFIG. 11 differs from IT infrastructures 40, 240, and 440 in that ITinfrastructure 640 includes one or more wireless headwall units 652 thatare mounted at fixed locations within rooms 64, such as, but not limitedto, the headwalls 60 of rooms 64. As with location beacons 250 andadapter beacons 450, wireless headwall units 652 are typically mountedadjacent each data port 80 so that anytime data from a patient supportapparatus 20 is desirably communicated to a data port, the wirelessheadwall unit 652 and patient support apparatus 20 are able tocommunicate.

Wireless headwall unit 652, as its name suggests, enables a patientsupport apparatus 20 to communicate wirelessly with the data port 80 ofthe associated headwall. Wireless headwall unit 652 communicateswirelessly with patient support apparatus 20 and communicates via acable 654 with data port 80. Wireless headwall unit 652, as with adapterbeacon 450 and location beacon 250, may be adapted to provide locationinformation to patient support apparatus 20, thereby enabling patientsupport apparatus 20 to communicate its location to server 72 via awireless access point 70.

Wireless headwall units 652, like adapter beacons 450, convert the datareceived wirelessly from patient support apparatus 20, if necessary,into whatever form is necessary for successful communication with theassociated nurse call system 62 and/or room controls 86. Similarly, anydata that is transmitted from room controls 86 and/or nurse call system62 to patient support apparatus 20 is first received by wirelessheadwall unit 652 and, if necessary, converted to a formatunderstandable by patient support apparatus 20. Wireless headwall units652 perform a similar function to adapter beacons 450 but include theadded ability to communicate wirelessly with patient support apparatuses20. When installed in a healthcare facility that includes wirelessheadwall units 652, patient support apparatuses 20 may be modified toomit the configuration circuitry 114 of control system 98.Alternatively, patient support apparatuses 20 may retain this circuitryin case a wireless headwall adapter malfunctions or a cable coupledbetween data port 80 and patient support apparatus 20 otherwise becomesnecessary for communication with data port 80.

In some embodiments, wireless headwall units 562 are constructed toinclude any or all of the functionality of the wireless headwall unitsdisclosed in commonly assigned copending U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/819,844 filed Aug. 6, 2015, by inventors Krishna Bhimavarapu etal. and entitled PATIENT SUPPORT APPARATUSES WITH WIRELESS HEADWALLCOMMUNICATION, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated hereinby reference. This functionality is in addition to the configurationfunctionality discussed above that converts data received from patientsupport apparatus 20 into the proper format for communicating with dataport 80.

Various additional alterations and changes beyond those alreadymentioned herein can be made to the above-described embodiments. Thisdisclosure is presented for illustrative purposes and should not beinterpreted as an exhaustive description of all embodiments or to limitthe scope of the claims to the specific elements illustrated ordescribed in connection with these embodiments. For example, and withoutlimitation, any individual element(s) of the described embodiments maybe replaced by alternative elements that provide substantially similarfunctionality or otherwise provide adequate operation. This includes,for example, presently known alternative elements, such as those thatmight be currently known to one skilled in the art, and alternativeelements that may be developed in the future, such as those that oneskilled in the art might, upon development, recognize as an alternative.Any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using thearticles “a,” “an,” “the” or “said,” is not to be construed as limitingthe element to the singular.

What is claimed is:
 1. A patient support apparatus adapter forprocessing communication between a patient support apparatus and a nursecall system wall outlet, the adapter comprising: a receiver adapted toreceive communication signals from a patient support apparatus; aninterface adapted to receive a multi-pin connector that electricallycommunicates with a cable coupled to the nurse call system wall outlet,the interface including a plurality of electrical leads, each lead beingelectrically coupled to a particular pin of the multi-pin connector whenthe multi-pin connector is received by the interface; a memory storingmapping data indicating how the communication signals received from thepatient support apparatus are to be mapped to the plurality ofelectrical leads; configuration circuitry adapted to map thecommunication signals received from the patient support apparatus to theplurality of electrical leads in accordance with the mapping data; and acontroller adapted to store the mapping data in the memory upon receiptof a message from an off-board source.
 2. The patient support apparatusadapter of claim 1 wherein the receiver is a cable connector adapted toreceive a multi-pin cable from the patient support apparatus.
 3. Thepatient support apparatus adapter of claim 2 wherein the mapping datamaps signals from various pins of the multi-pin cable to the pluralityof electrical leads.
 4. The patient support apparatus adapter of claim 1wherein the receiver is a wireless transceiver adapted to wirelesslyreceive the communications signals from the patient support apparatus.5. The patient support apparatus adapter of claim 4 wherein the receiveris one of an infrared receiver or Bluetooth receiver.
 6. The patientsupport apparatus adapter of claim 1 further comprising a wirelesstransceiver, the wireless transceiver adapted to wirelessly communicatewith a wireless access point of a healthcare facility network, andwherein the off-board source is a server coupled to the healthcarefacility network and able to communicate with the wireless transceivervia the wireless access point.
 7. The patient support apparatus adapterof claim 1 wherein the off-board source is the patient support apparatusand the receiver is adapted to receive the mapping data from the patientsupport apparatus.
 8. The patient support apparatus adapter of claim 1wherein the receiver is part of a transceiver adapted to send messagesto the patient support apparatus.
 9. The patient support apparatusadapter of claim 8 wherein the controller is further adapted to transmitthe mapping data to the patient support apparatus.
 10. The patientsupport apparatus adapter of claim 7 wherein the controller is furtheradapted to receive new mapping data from the patient support apparatusand store the new mapping data in the memory.
 11. The patient supportapparatus adapter of claim 8 wherein the memory includes a uniqueidentifier and the controller is adapted to send the unique identifierto the patient support apparatus via the transceiver, the uniqueidentifier providing location information to the patient supportapparatus indicative of a location of the patient support apparatuswithin a healthcare facility.
 12. A patient support apparatus adapterfor processing communication between a patient support apparatus and anurse call system wall outlet, the adapter comprising: a firsttransceiver adapted to wirelessly communicate with the patient supportapparatus via short range communication; a second transceiver adapted towirelessly communicate with the patient support apparatus via long rangecommunication; an interface adapted to receive a multi-pin connectorthat electrically communicates with a cable coupled to the nurse callsystem wall outlet, the interface including a plurality of electricalleads, each lead being electrically coupled to a particular pin of themulti-pin connector when the multi-pin connector is received by theinterface; a memory storing mapping data indicating how communicationsignals received from the patient support apparatus via at least one ofthe first or second transceivers are to be mapped to the plurality ofelectrical leads; configuration circuitry adapted to map thecommunication signals received from the patient support apparatus to theplurality of electrical leads in accordance with the mapping data; and acontroller adapted to replace the mapping data with new mapping dataupon receipt of a message from an off-board source.
 13. The patientsupport apparatus adapter of claim 12 wherein the first transceiver is aBluetooth transceiver and the second transceiver is an infraredtransceiver.
 14. The patient support apparatus adapter of claim 13further comprising a third transceiver, the third transceiver adapted towirelessly communicate with a wireless access point of a healthcarefacility network, and wherein the off-board source is a server coupledto the healthcare facility network and able to communicate with thethird transceiver via the wireless access point.
 15. The patient supportapparatus of claim 14 wherein the server is in communication with ageographically remote server and adapted to receive from thegeographically remote server the new mapping data.
 16. The patientsupport apparatus adapter of claim 12 wherein the off-board source isthe patient support apparatus and the first transceiver is adapted toreceive the new mapping data from the patient support apparatus.
 17. Thepatient support apparatus adapter of claim 12 wherein the memoryincludes a unique identifier and the controller is adapted to send theunique identifier to the patient support apparatus via at least one ofthe first or second transceivers, the unique identifier providinglocation information to the patient support apparatus indicative of alocation of the patient support apparatus within a healthcare facility.18. The patient support apparatus adapter of claim 12 wherein thecontroller is further adapted to transmit the new mapping data to thepatient support apparatus via at least one of the first or secondtransceivers.
 19. The patient support apparatus adapter of claim 12further comprising a plurality of switches electrically coupled to theplurality of electrical leads, and wherein the controller is furtheradapted to control the plurality of switches in order to implement thenew mapping data.
 20. The patient support apparatus adapter of claim 19wherein at least one of the first and second transceivers is adapted toreceive an exit detection message from the patient support apparatusindicating that a patient has exited from the patient support apparatus,and the controller is further adapted to change a state of at least oneof the switches in response to the receipt of the exit detectionmessage.